Slide 2 THE UNFINISHED TASK AND THE RETURN OF CHRIST Slide 3 The
unfinished task as the topic suggests that there is a set task
which the Church (the body of Christ) is expected to engage in and
finish. What is the task and how far along is the Church in
completing or finishing the task. Jn. 17:18 As you sent me into the
world, I also have sent them into the world. (NKJV) Slide 4 In the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, He went on to commission the church
for this purpose. Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. For this purpose the church was born.
The Church exists only for missions (making disciples of all
nations). According to Emil Brunner, The Church exists by mission
as fire exists by burning. If there is no mission, then there is no
church! Gods plan for the world is not that the Church will be
saved. Gods plan is rather to use the Church for the salvation of
the world. The act of making disciples which does not take the form
of missions is still born. Missions is the process of making more
disciples to participate in missions. Hence, the Scripture Matt.
9:37-38 . The harvest is truly plentiful but the laborers are few.
Therefore pray the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into the
harvest. Who are the laborers? THE CHURCH. The Church is only
faithful to her lord when she is turned outward, toward the world
to finishing of this task. Here below is a graphic illustration of
the worlds unreached peoples group The percentage of people that
have not heard the gospel of salvation. Slide 5 WORLD AFRRICA
NIGERIA From this illustration, you can see that the task is far
from completion because the Church has abandoned the task and
consequently the harvest is wasting away in the field. The Church
as a body has metamorphosed into a self serving institution. The
Church has turned in upon itself. The goal of the Church originally
is to be better able to reach out to others. These are the words of
Kwame Nkrumah in 1957 as Ghana became independent: The independence
of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked to the independence of
all Africa. We can also learn from this as a Church that, Our
Salvation as Christians is meaningless unless it is linked to the
Salvation of all mankind. Slide 6 The Church is not an end in
itself; it is a minister to the world for Jesus sake. As the church
sleeps and slumbers, the coming of our Lord and Saviour is delayed.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in
all the world as a witness to all the nation, and then the end will
come. Only when this task is finished will our Lord Jesus Christ
come in glory. The disciples of Jesus Christ confused and agitated
came privately to Jesus on Mount Olives and asked Him this very
important question in Matthew 24:13: .Tell us when will these
things be? and what will be the sign of your coming, and the end of
age ? The return of Christ will be surrounded by so much confusion
as written in Matthew 24:4-26. Jesus turning to his disciples
answered them saying: Matthew 24:4 Take heed (KJV &NKJV), Watch
out (NIV) Dont let anyone deceive you. (NLT) Jesus warned that
there will be widespread deception and the approaching calamities
will shake our faith even the very elect shall fall away. Jesus
asked us to be vigilant so as not to be deceived by false prophets
and teachers claiming to be Christ or claiming to have met with
Christ. He also warned that the miracles that will be performed
will not be genuine but only aimed at deceiving the people, even
believers. WORLD AFRRICA NIGERIA Slide 7 Matthew 24:15 talks about
the abomination that causes desolation referred to in Daniel 9:24;
11:31; 12:11. This could mean that the antichrist will oppose God
so to proclaim himself god. It could also mean any deliberate act
to mock and deny the reality of Gods presence. There will be much
suffering and fear but in Matthew 24:31, Jesus assures us that God
will take care of believers even in these perilous times and lead
them to salvation. There will be hostility towards believers but
what is most important is for believers to stand firm, endure
hardship and actively engage the in spreading the gospel to all the
nations of the world. The return of our Lord Jesus Christ will be
visible to the whole world. It will be a global event. Both the
good and bad, the believers and unbelievers will see Him. Matthew
24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun
will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, the stars
will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all
the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man
coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He
will send His angels with a great sound of trumpet, and they will
gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of
heaven to the other. WORLD AFRRICA NIGERIA Slide 8 When He returns,
according to words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:46
Blessed is that servant whom his master, when He comes will find
him so doing. (NKJV) The Church exists only for mission (soul
winning) and blessed is that Servant whom when his master returns
will find him in the field winning souls. Are you in that number?
The Church should wake up to its responsibilities, unite and tackle
the task given to us by our Lord and Master Jesus Christ which is
soul wining for therein lies our salvation. Sister Udokanma Uzor
Ref: Applied Theology 1, A.C. Krass, Daily Guide 2013. WORLD
AFRRICA NIGERIA
